New York wants to eliminate the 2,200 Mute Swans in the state by 2025. The only exceptions would be swans in some private collections and public parks, which would have to make the sure the swans did not leave or reproduce.

Two penguin populations trying to cope with climate change include Magellanic Penguins, whose chicks have to weather increased summer rainstorms before they have waterproof feathers, and Adélie Penguins, which have to find a way around mega-icebergs to forage during the breeding season.

A study found that a greater diversity of birds use no-till soybean fields during the breeding season than among tilled soybeans. However, birds in both field types suffered a high degree of nest failure.

The migratory Monarch population that winters in Mexico continues to decline. The link discusses some of the reasons for the population crash, but the major factors are habitat loss due to increased acreage being devoted to corn and soybeans and the overuse of herbicides that kill off milkweed.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Data collected as part of the Northern Bald Ibis reintroduction project confirms the idea that flying in v-shaped formations helps migratory birds save energy. (For more on this topic, see also Ed Yong's post linked below.)

Using cameras strapped to falcons' heads, a scientist found that falcons intercept their prey using a strategy called constant bearing. Instead of flying directly towards their prey, they fly towards their prey's future position. This strategy has also been documented in bats and dragonflies.

While macaw parents usually lay four eggs, it is unusual for them to raise and fledge more than one chick. This seems to be a way of hedging their bets: laying extra eggs ensures that at least one hatches, and devoting extra attention to a single chick makes it more likely that at least one chick will survive.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

In 2011, Richard Crossley introduced a new format for photographic field guides with his much-heralded Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds. Crossley tried to overcome the limitations of traditional photographic field guides by presenting each species in an array of plumages all crowded into a single plate that depicts each bird's typical habitat. The intent is to mimic how birds appear in the wild. While no printed guide can recreate actual field conditions, Crossley's guides are about as close as one can get.

Since then, Crossley has worked to expand his ID guide series into other geographic regions. A guide to the birds of Britain and Ireland is already published, and one for western birds is planned. Last year I received another installment in the series, The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors. The new guide is coauthored with Jerry Liguori and Brian Sullivan. Like the guide to eastern birds, this raptor guide features birds as they appear in the field:
perched, flying, interacting with other birds, in various plumages, etc.
Once again, the plates show a raptor's typical habitat with numerous
bird photos added into the background with the help of Photoshop.

Like its predecessor, The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors features beautiful photography. I initially enjoyed just flipping through and looking at the plates. Since hawk migration is an emphasis in this guide, the backdrops are often coastal or mountaintop hawk watches, some of which are spectacular. I especially liked the plate showing how vultures might look from the top of the Cape May Lighthouse.

The focus on a single family allows even more detail than was possible in the guide to eastern birds. Most species are spread over multiple pages, with color morphs or regional plumages receiving separate attention. As in the first guide, the photos of individual birds are inserted into backdrops depicted a typical habitat. The raptor guide takes this a step further by showing separate plates for hawk watches and habitats where the hawk typically resides. This is useful because there are different identification challenges for raptors that are just passing through (especially at mountaintop hawk watches) than ones that are perched or hunting in a field. Some plates also mimic difficult lighting conditions, like overcast skies or the golden hour, and plates show both close and distant raptors.

New features introduced in the raptor guide are comparison plates and quizzes. These plates show groupings of similar species in typical habitat with individual birds numbered and with answers at the back of the book. These features ought to be useful for someone who is new to hawk study or for learning unfamiliar species. Another difference between this guide and the guide to eastern birds is the inclusion of detailed species accounts with range maps at the end of the guide.

While it is smaller than its predecessor, The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors is a little too large to carry as a field guide on most occasions. However, since hawk watching is a matter of waiting in a location for hawks to pass by, it could be used as a reference at a hawk watch (provided that getting to the hawk watch does not require a hike, as some mountaintop hawk watches do). The Crossley ID guides are intended for home study, mainly for preparation to know what to look for. On numerous occasions since I received Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds I have made use of it to help figure out difficult identifications.

Photoshopping aside, The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors occupies a similar niche as Jerry Ligouri's other guides, Hawks from Every Angle and Hawks at a Distance. All three guides attempt to show readers how raptors look under less-than-ideal field conditions: at a weird angle, backlit, at a distance, disappearing behind some trees, and so on. All three guides emphasize shape and flight style as a way of getting around the difficulty. I think the new guide actually improves on Hawks from Every Angle and Hawks at a Distance by showing those angles in their habitat contexts.

From reading reviews of Crossley's first guide and from conversations with other birders, I get the sense that some birders find Crossley's style far too cluttered. The new raptor guide is probably not for them since The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors shares much in common with its predecessor. However, if you like raptors and enjoyed the first Crossley guide, as I do, you will probably like The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors.

Saturday, January 04, 2014

I saw four new life birds this year. Since I do most of my birding in and around New Jersey, it is getting harder and harder to find new species that I have not seen before. My life list ended the year at 359 species, and my New Jersey list is at 306.

Species

Location

Date

Pink-footed Goose

Monroe Twp

16 Jan 2013

Pacific Loon

American Rd. Corporate Pond

16 Mar 2013

Little Gull

Morgan Mudflats

12 May 2013

Clay-colored Sparrow

Donaldson Park

03 Dec 2013

These were all among my new state birds as well, with the one exception being a Western Grebe, a species I previously saw in California.

Species

Location

Date

Western Grebe

Cape May Harbor

10 Jan 2013

Pink-footed Goose

Monroe Twp

16 Jan 2013

Pacific Loon

American Rd. Corporate Pond

16 Mar 2013

Little Gull

Morgan Mudflats

12 May 2013

Clay-colored Sparrow

Donaldson Park

03 Dec 2013

My county list grew significantly, even though I doubted at the end of last year that I would be able to find many more species in the county.

Species

Location

Date

Pink-footed Goose

Monroe Twp

16 Jan 2013

Black-headed Gull

Raritan Bay Waterfront Park

04 Apr 2013

Blue Grosbeak

Davidson Mill Pond Park

11 May 2013

Western Grebe

South Amboy Boat Ramp

11 May 2013

Little Gull

Morgan Avenue Mudflats

12 May 2013

Wilson's Warbler

Cheesequake State Park

18 May 2013

Lincoln's Sparrow

Donaldson Park

03 Oct 2013

Red-headed Woodpecker

Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve

12 Oct 2013

Nelson's Sparrow

Raritan Bay Waterfront Park

02 Nov 2013

Saltmarsh Sparrow

Raritan Bay Waterfront Park

02 Nov 2013

Tundra Swan

Duhernal Lake

26 Nov 2013

Clay-colored Sparrow

Donaldson Park

03 Dec 2013

With a similar number of new species in 2014, my Middlesex County life list (currently at 233) would pass my list in Cape May County (currently at 240) for my highest single-county total, something that was hard to imagine just a couple years ago.